Independence for girls is key, says Diane von Furstenberg — and her new kids’ range is an expression of that

D
iane von Furstenberg is never afraid to tackle the big issues. Curled on a
1950s sofa in her vast office in New York, strewn with family photographs
and keepsakes, she wants to talk about how we should bring up our girls. The
designer of the iconic wrap dress, philanthropist, women’s rights activist,
plastic-surgery refusenik and former princess has some strong ideas. The
most important thing to teach your daughters, she says, in a voice as deep
and exotic as Dietrich’s, “is that the most important relationship you have
is the one with yourself. You should not be afraid. Fear is not an option.
That is what my mother told me”.

Her well-to-do Belgian-Jewish family was torn apart by the Holocaust, and she
recounts how her mother, when she was arrested, had tossed a note to her
parents in the street that read: “Do not worry about me. I will come back...
I don’t